Debate and deliberate

Inclusion’s Australia associate, Emily Crawford, writes for Indus Delta about the Australian policy known as Welfare Quarantining. In essence, this is a controversial policy which seeks to control Aboriginal Australians' use of their welfare benefits.  It was introduced in the Northern Territory in 2007.

A controversial policy controlling Aboriginal Australians' use of their welfare benefits was introduced in the Northern Territory in 2007. As part of a wider response to extreme social issues in Aboriginal communities, the income management policy quarantines 50% of Indigenous claimants' benefits, restricting those monies to be spent on priority items such as food, rent and utility bills under the supervision of Centrelink, the government social security agency.  The goal of income management is to improve child health and wellbeing and reduce abuse and family violence, largely caused by abuse of alcohol, by restricting individuals' ability to spend benefits on harmful items and increasing the amount spent on daily necessities.

Managing Director of Serco Welfare to Work, Richard Johnson, warns against the common misconception that there are currently no jobs out there and advises welfare to work service providers on how to be interventional and effective, despite the current economic conditions.

How can you have a swing towards outcome-based funding of welfare-to-work services when there is simply no work for people to do? Surely there is a fixed level of opportunity in the labour market and if this is squeezed by a contracting economy, at the same time that the dole queue is lengthened by public sector cuts, then there just won’t be any outcomes to get? How can the Work Programme possibly succeed when there are no jobs out there?

As the recession has hit Britain the overall number of jobs in the economy has fallen, however, the number of part time jobs has sharply increased.  Between March 2007 and March 2010 the number of people working in part time jobs rose by more than a quarter of a million. Inclusion researcher, Pippa Lane, debates whether we are about to see the dawn of a new age of flexible work?

For many years, researchers and campaigners have been arguing for an increase in the availability of part time jobs as a way for families to balance work and family responsibilities.  In large part, this is due to the high cost and low public subsidy of childcare that makes full time work for both parents difficult for many families to manage.  Part time jobs – particularly those that allow parents to provide care for their children out of school hours – help families to manage their budgets. This is through a reduction in childcare costs and through increased earnings and the longer term financial benefits of maintaining contact with the labour market, such as career progression.  For parents who have been out of the labour market for many years, there is some evidence that ‘mini-jobs’ (jobs of less than 16 hours per week) have the potential to act as stepping stones back into work.

Managing Director of Serco Welfare to Work, Richard Johnson, writes for Indus Delta's Debate and Delibrate section.  Examining the structure of the Work Programme, Richard argues that it will require a two-tier contracting infrastructure. He maintains that it will be absolutely crucial that the distinctions between the roles and capabilities of organisations in the different tiers are understood if the Work Programme is to be procured appropriately and delivered effectively.